Stoked!
 

It might actually come together - it might not just be some fantasy...
Frame arrived at shop today. Gruppo has been waiting. Now I just have to get wheels put together (who woulda thunk nice silver campy-ready I-talian hubs would be so hard to procure....)
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Looks really great. That's a great feeling when the frame arrives. Don't forget to repost when the wheels are built and ready. Also, need to update your avatar (no longer in transit).

Sweet, steel and Campy. Steel fork?

Actually, fork that came with it is carbon - "natural" black for the most part, but gold and pearl white at the top.

That's a gorgeous frame and the all Italian build will be classy

That's cool. R&A has some '98 Laser framesets for $750.

http://www.racycles.com/assets/produ...arlred-CRF.jpg

R&A? Yeah, they have a lot of stuff, but they're not my shop. I've only been there a couple of times to pick up a number the day before a race in the series they sponsor (which is nice). Besides, what they had in closeouts were not my size, while the new one is a) made to measure, b) about 250g lighter frame and c) better looking. :)

Meanwhile, wheels aren't going to be anything too special. I've given up trying to source the PMP hubs I was looking at, and will go with Miche instead (I'm digging the red levers on the skewers - port side of the bike, like the red in the little tri-color label on the seat tube). Minimal profile silver rims like Pacenti PL23 or H+Son TB14. Will splurge on Sapim CX Ray spokes to make up for the heavy hubs :)

When it's all put together, maybe I'll post it up on Hot or Not or White Bikes thread, but for now, just a little update. So far we got the derailleurs installed and hooked up, and the front brake, but we chopped up the rear brake housing not realizing we needed to route the whole length through the top tube - and of course there was no other white cable housing in the shop or readily available nearby. Wheels should be ready early next week (Miche hubs, Sapim Laser double-butted spokes, VeloOrange box rims). On the website, the color looked gray, but it's really pearl white. This thing is gonna be SHINY - total opposite of current matte black CF bike.
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That's the owner of Zen installing the first bits today - a photo taken by a friend who happened to be in the store before I got there. I showed up later and helped with the bars, derailleurs and cables.
Those tags hanging off the seat stay are kind of cool/amusing, and both laminated. One is the specifications and QC/sign-off card - signed by the machinist, brazer, finisher, painter and QC (two of whom are named Casati). The other is a card that says: Here it is "on the shoulders of Giants (and a mighty nice Bianchi, too)," safe and out of the way while we wait for the wheels and some more white cable housing.
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Not so stoked now that it's taking forever to get the wheels put together, and the saddle and pedals haven't shown up yet. It kind of bugs me that the only thing that was ordered or purchased before the the frame arrived was the gruppo, despite the fact that I'd put together a list of what I wanted for wheels and all the miscellany. Now, after waiting several weeks for the frame to arrive, and no good deals or new products coming out of the trade show last month, we're waiting for stuff we could have had all along, that should have been ready to go. And of course we're just about finished with nice weather.... This bike better be nice! ​:mad:

Outstanding! :thumb:

Sweetness. I would put a white Turbo or Concor saddle on it.

Nice!! :thumb::thumb:

Thanks!
You know, Casati pose a gray frame with white bar tape and saddle, but black cable housing, stem, seatpost, and (naturally modern) black spoked wheels (Fulcrum Racing Zero). What threw me off (and eventually created the rule for me), was the black on the fork legs and the white on the chain stays. Now, as you see, my frame is essentially all white (though the name band and chain stays are ordinary white and the rest is pearlescent). I always intended to go for something more classic and bright than Casati's suggested build, but white wasn't the essential idea. So I mean to balance the black of the forks with the seatpost and saddle in black, too. Now, I just have to find some white or tan hoods :)

Wheels arrived, but it's approaching two weeks now and still no saddle or pedals. Why do I let this torture me?
It's probably going to weigh 30lbs now! It's a disaster! :)
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Picked it up today, will take photos tomorrow. Ready to roll, it came in at 19.15 lbs. So empty, it weighs about as much as the CF bike does with water and tools.
Now I can relax. :)